NEW YORK MENSWEAR - AUTUMN/WINTER 2010

let's face facts, new york fashion week is pretty much as boring as the opening ceremony of the winter olympic games. all these acts trying to one up each other but in the end is just the same shit we've all seen before. but not done quite as well as our european counterparts. don't get me wrong there are some pretty amazing talents that are coming out of the states. with phi closing down there's still ohne titel, and every now and then marc jacobs still manages to do something actually amazing. still, i find that whole upper east side, socialite and celebrity targeted or even jacobs' mish mash dressing to be painfully dull. even alexander wang, the dude we all dick rode when he first started is starting to bore the wits out of me. but having said that i must give new york fashion week some sort of consolation because while the womenswear collections are pretty much a big dud, i was pretty impressed by how good some of the menswear collections were.
what really impressed me about the menswear collections was how they were all intrinsically american. there was nothing blatantly borrowed or adapted from european sartorial codes and the designers really dug deep into americana and what formulated the "american" aesthetic.
the utilitarian workwear references with the denims and the plaids and intarsia knitwear paired with a more relaxed form of tailoring which then contributed to a more casual disposition is the very basis of america's greatest contribution to fashion, sportswear.
and obviously since our world has gotten a lot smaller and influences crosses oceans more freely the clothes never lacked international appeal. new york is the center of the world and in the big apple you have british designers david neville and marcus wainwright at rag & bone, and swedish born patrik ervell showing at one of the biggest stages in the world. with neville and wainwright utilizing american pragmatism with british eccentricity and ervell with the clean lines of scandinavian design.
then there are designers scott sternberg at band of outsiders and phillip lim. both born on american soil and whose sensibilities are deeply rooted in the tradition of american sportswear. while there is a noticeable contrast between lim and sternberg's collections, the one common thread that they both share is the one that is at the core of american fashion, practicality. clothes that function without sacrificing any of its individuality.
now if only the womenswear collections were this interesting i wouldn't be yawning while i peruse through the collections on style.com. seriously, how many fucking cocktail dresses does one collection need.


photo: gq.com